3 Years Later...

     Well, it's definitely been a while since anything has been posted on this page. Did anyone notice? Or has instagram taken over as the new blog? (:
     We're still doing wonderful in Virginia. All of us Dalton kids are homeschooled now, and having an awesome time. I (Katelyn) am about to graduate-early. Senior Pictures! I am still playing French Horn, and will have my last RSYO (Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra) concert in a few months.

 Josh has taken up the guitar, and has found a natural talent for music. He also finished his eagle project a several months ago! He completely redid a room at the Faison School, a school for children with autism.

 Marshall started playing soccer, as well as church basketball, and has enjoyed that. He and I also like to match with our batman shirts.

And Sierra has been rocking gymnastics. She made the team over a year ago, and has been making amazing progress. I, for one, have no gymnastic ability whatsoever, and so it's impressive to see my little sister do flips and twists in midair. Also adorable picture of her last winter. And, she decided to start playing the cello!

     Last time we posted, none of us kids were old enough to really have a job. But now I am working as a lifeguard and a swim instructor, and Josh works in the daycare at our gym.
     Mom is still the most amazing hairdresser ever, and I don't know what I'm going to do when I leave for college, because she's really the only one I trust with my hair. Prom and homecoming was a blast, and she of course did my hair. (:

     I'm going to try and post fairly regularly because I'm sure everyone is just so fascinated with our lives. Haha(: So I suppose y'all (yep, the southern accent is setting in) will have to deal with reading the thoughts of a teenager.

Apple Camp

Marshall went to Apple camp last week. If you haven't heard of it, Apple provided free 3 day summer camps where they learned how to film, edit and create a soundtrack. He partnered up with his friend Colton and here is the movie they came up with.

Vay-Cay!

I think we are destined to not have a 'perfect' picture! But I do like these!

Did you notice I was missing? I've been right good about posting regularly and missed 2 weeks! That is because I was traveling all over the good ol' U.S. of A. We were lucky to be able to spend a week with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents on the Williams side, and then a week with cousins, aunts, uncles on the Dalton side. What a great time!

We started off the trip by driving to St. Louis to catch our flight to Portland, Or. (There is a method to my madness, patience!) We picked Katelyn up from girls camp, washed her clothes and hit the road. We made it to the airport just in time to catch our flight.... that was delayed. Ouch. Unfortunately, we had a tight window and the delay caused us to miss our connection. Bummer! We were able to finally go and the airlines found a different connecting flight for us to take. After arriving in Portland, OR and finding our rental car, we began the next leg of our journey with a 3+ hour drive to Sun River, OR. We missed the reunion kick off fireworks, but were able to enjoy several different shows as we drove. We spent the week hiking, swimming, splunking, and floating the Deschutes river. Have you ever been in a lava flow cave? Very cool and VERY dark!
One of the kids favorite things was hiking to this waterfall and playing in the water. It was pretty chilly water, but no one seemed to mind.



After an amazing week in cool, not humid Bend/Sun River, we headed back to Portland to catch our flight back to St. Louis. Thankfully, that went off without a hitch. We picked up our car and drove the 3+ hours to Nauvoo, (See? A method!) and met up with Bary's brother and family. That place is amazing! The kids had an incredible time and never got bored. We saw how bricks were made, got prairie diamonds, rode in a pioneer wagon pulled by oxen (did you know that is a term, not an animal?) went to Carthage, went to the temple, went to a pioneer style fair, pageant, wagon ride, Trail of Hope down Parley street, dressed up in pioneer clothes, and played all sorts of pioneer style games. I think they had more fun doing the pioneer games than any game we have at home (hello Christmas ideas!)

This is the actor who portrayed Brigham Young in the pageant. He also was in 4 of the Liken the Scriptures (Samuel the prophet, Abinadi, Zachariah, and Lehi)Do you recognize him? Josh did right off the bat!

Josh, Marshall, Sierra, Byron, Briggs, and Grace at the end of Parley Street where it meets the Mississippi.

The Nauvoo Temple was amazingly beautiful. It was incredible to be able to be there and feel the spirit that is there. Thanks to Hill's parents for watching the kids so we could all go!

Now we are home safe and sound and onto the next activities. One very cool thing: We hurried back from out trip because Elder Bednar was coming to our stake! There was a special fireside for youth only (no parents) I was SO grateful to be a seminary teacher as we were invited to attend. He is absolutely amazing. His ability to connect with the youth and teach with the spirit astounds me every time. What an incredible experience Katelyn and Josh (and me) were able to have. They got to chat with him and shake his hand. I think that is one thing they will remember for a LONG time!

Busch Gardens

Thanks to Katelyn's band trip to Busch Gardens earlier this month, we ended up with 6 fun passes (like a season pass, but only good for the summer instead of the year) at an incredible discount. We decided to go on Monday for family home evening. This was Sierra's and Marshall's first time on the big kid coasters. It's been many years since we visited an amusement park and the first time where everyone could ride most of the rides (3 were off limits to Sierra)
Katelyn and Bary had been there before and spent the morning giving us a rundown on the different coasters. We got to the park around 3pm and decided to hit one of the coasters Sierra could ride... it was also a double loop coaster. I think I was more nervous for Sierra and Marsh then they were for themselves!!
Bary and Sierra rode together and Marshall and I rode. Needless to say, they both LOVED it and are officially hooked. In fact, they were asking when we could go again while we left the park Monday night. Not sure how I feel about having a 7 year old roller coaster junkie!!
Just before boarding the ride:

After riding. She was hot to trot to go again. Bary had to reign her in so I could snap a pic.

Seminary

I know this has little to do with my family, but it is what I do 9 months of the year. We just finished up the seminary year and had our second annual minute to win it game. I find games I can relate to gospel principles or things we discussed during the year and we separate into teams and have at it. Have you tried any of these games?






We also had our second annual end of year auction. Items are donated and the kids can 'buy' things with points they earned throughout the year.



To help beat the winter blues, we had a 'great and dreadful day'. I told the class that it would be one day in March and in order for it to be a great day they had to be prepared (ie be on time) If they were late, it would be a dreadful day. Those that were on time went to breakfast with me. It's amazing what teenagers will do in an empty McDonalds at 6am...

Outer Banks

I think the OBX is the only thing that could have eased the sting of not being able to do the Big Sur campout. (Well, that and since we left CA, there hasn't been a campout AT Big Sur...)

Once again we had a great time. The weather was perfect and no one get too sunburned.

Sierra and I went for a walk on the beach and collected shells


We all spent a lot of time on the beach




Enjoyed some down time

I absolutely LOVE this picture. Lilly (the toddler) has taken to Josh like you wouldn't believe. I think she has a baby crush.

Spring Break-For real this time

We had a great time camping and riding bikes on the Virginia Creeper Trail. Even took pictures to prove it!

We climbed a VERY tall tower on a VERY windy day

Rode bikes

Hiked